Monthly Archives: October 2010

Thanksgiving is a time for expressing gratitude. Gratitude for all the blessings in one’s life. I consider my wonderful friends and husband to be among the greatest blessings of my life. And although this past weekend in Vegas featured more martinis than turkeys, it was still the best Thanksgiving I ever had, simply because I spent every minute of it having fun with the people I love and watching them be so happy.

Len and I always play a little game at the end of our trips. We call it the “I liked…” game, where we take turns sharing our favourite moments from the trip, and try to be as specific as we can. We didn’t do that on the way back from Vegas this time because we both fell asleep on the plane, so I thought I’d share my favourite moments here on this blog.

I liked it when Rupi exclaimed on our first night, “The water here is so dry!” (I guess that’s why she stuck to martinis for the rest of the weekend)

I liked the hot, sunny weather!

I liked having lunch under the sun at the Paris Pool Cafe.

I totally enjoyed the EPIC 2 and 1/2 hour dinner at Spice Market Buffet with Min, Rupi, Emily, and Len! Everything was just so fun, from the awesome, juicy lamb kebobs, to the numerous dessert selections, to Min suggesting I put more turking “droppings” into my stuffing, and especially to the all-around laughter and good times.

I had a good time running with Kathleen and Len, and we got to see some of the streets beyond The Strip. And I liked that whole exchange with the drunken and/or hungover dude in the car who asked us what we were running for. (Too bad I didn’t get a picture of Kathleen or of the streets on these outings)

I liked all the gambling! From my own blackjack on my first try, to the Amazing Race game that gave me a better workout than Shredding, to Min’s win of $25 on 37 cents on the Kitty Glitter machine, to simply watching everyone gamble, especially Len and Min together on blackjack where they were, as Len put it, “2 pilots in one cockpit”.

I savoured the Frozen Lemon Sorbettini at Trevi’s.

I loved it when Len smiled at me during Tina and Lindsay’s wedding ceremony. I loved the whole wedding and seeing how happy Tina and Lindsay were. I also loved taking so many photos of all us hot girls. And Len.

I liked the cool art galleries we came across.

I enjoyed the view from the Voodoo Lounge.

I had a fantastic time during the 30 mins it took for Kanata, Min, Rupi, and I to cross the street from the Paris to Bellagio hotel. It was the most boisterous, drunken, carefree, and laughter-filled half hour from our trip.

I loved waking up on Oct. 12 to Len saying “Happy 8th Year Anniversary”. It’s hard to believe it’s been 8 years since that wonderful Thanksgiving weekend when we first admitted our feelings for each other. And life with Len now is even more exciting and sweet than it was then.

The past few days have been filled with work and getting ready for Vegas stuff. I only just managed to watch the results show for Battle of the Blades. I am so, so, so glad that Val Bure and Katia Gordeeva are still in it! I was partly surprised that they were in the bottom 2, but part of me feared that would happen. They were, in my opinion, one of, if not the, best of the couples from Sunday night. To me, Katia has always been the epitome of what figure skating is and should be about; her natural grace, exquisite lines, and pure pair skating skills have never been matched on the ice in my opinion. Together with her late husband, Sergei Grinkov, they created some of the most beautiful and unforgettable programs I have ever seen. But her style has never been showy, never over-the-top, never aggressive. But I think that the showy, extroverted kind of programs may translate better on such a show as Battle of the Blades. The smoothness, pure skating, and well-matched lines that Val and Katia show in their skating may get a little lost amongst the big “tricks” and over-the-top body language/facial expressions of the other couples. I noticed that the judges all remarked on their incredible speed on the ice, but that kind of effortless speed, where they don’t look like they’re even trying to skate fast at all, does not translate well on television. I think you have to see in live to appreciate the excitement it creates. Len thought they were a bit boring, and I think that that may be a general sentiment amongst non-figure skating fans. Which is perfectly valid from the perspective of the theatrics of this show. I myself had more laughs and gasps of excitement with some of the other teams’ programs. I guess for me, however, this is a figure skating competition and thus goes much deeper than the theatrics, so I want it judged as such. But that’s not to say I didn’t absolutely enjoy the other performances! Oh my, it was a fantastic first week for all of the competitors, and I was super impressed by all their skating. It’s gonna be such a fun season!

Enough skating talk–onto Vegas! This time tomorrow I’ll be in the Paris hotel and trying to ward off Rupi’s coaxing to have a drink… 🙂 So excited! Today I made a bunch of energy bars and pumpkin bars to bring with us so we’d have some healthy snacks.

I’m hoping to have a balance this weekend between gluttony and moderation. Is that possible? I want to try to get in my fruits and veggies and fibre 😛 but at the same time not feel guilty for having some drinks and eating less-than-healthy foods. I’ll let you know how I do when I get back! 🙂